Peripheral oxygen measurements in suspected elderly COVID-19 patients can be an effective tool for alerting physicians

Abstract

Since December 2019 the world has been facing a newly identified coronavirus named SarsCov-2 which is the causative agent of COVID-19 that produces different symptoms. One of these symptoms is asymptomatic hypoxia, particularly in elderly patients. Despite the absence of signs of respiratory distress, many patients evolve to respiratory failure. The cause of this asymptomatic hypoxia remains unclear; therefore our goal was to evaluate the utility of peripheral oxygen measurements using oximetry in elderly patients with suspected COVID-19 and with no apparent signs of shortness of breath, during 10 consecutive days. Every elderly patient with suspected COVID-19 who sought medical care at one of the 12 Primary Health Unit (PHU) in the South-West area of Campinas, Sao Paulo State was enrolled in the 10-days monitoring report. Each patient had the levels of oxygen saturation (SpO2) monitored by pulse oximeter from the fifth to the tenth days after the onset of symptoms and, when possible, twice a day; 1297 patients (pts) were followed during the period from August 2020 to February 2021. A total of 9023 measurements were carried out using a SpO2 pulse oximeter. 163 (12.5%) cases were referred to the Emergency Room and 37 (3%) had to be hospitalized. The highest frequencies of symptoms occurred during the 6th and 8th day and included cough (16.8%), fatigue (12.8%), headache (9.7%), loss of taste and/or smell (6.8%). Among the patients who were hospitalized, 13 died (1%). The asymptomatic hypoxia remains unclear; however, the measurement of SpO2 levels appears to be a cheap and effective tool to be used as an alert system for further evaluation.